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vintage CUSTAR (Rhino Man) by Tyke and E-Man

I would not say 'great minds think alike', as I would not dare calling my own mind 'great'. But I should say 'some minds think alike' then. After seeing the gazillions unmade MOTU prototypes in the most splendid The Power and the Honor Foundation: Catalog Volume One it turned out that both fellow board member Tyke and myself were particularly drawn to the sketch of 'Rhino Man', also known as Custar in that catalog. The sketch is featured both black and white and in colors and we were working on the very same character at the very same time. But it turns out we both had a very different approach. Making it two very different figures. We decided to post 'em together in one thread, so here goes. Tyke's version of Custar is on the left side of the compilation, mine is on the right:

I'm sure Tyke will give the details on his version later on. Mine is (obviously) made by merging a toy rhino with Ram-Man. It makes for a pretty static figure, kinda like a Battlecat or a Panthor was just a static piece of plastic back in the 1980s. The arms still do move though. The weapon is partially a beat up lance from some vintage knight figure. The top end (ball with spikes) is sculpted as I could not find one in just the right size.

This project actually made me think of the 'group custom challenges' from back in the day. Maybe we should do one of those again for old times sake! Multiple forum members making either the same figure or all figures in the same theme. Anybody up for that?

Yes, yessssss. I've heard about the project from E-man when it was a wip and it was a bit of a wait but man.... those look great.
Scalewise they are perfect and the execution on the combining of parts is also something Dr.Frankenstein could be jealous off.

Love seeing how the 2 of you took a character and gave it your own style and choice of parts, super jobs!

For someone who hasn't got the PHF-book it is a special treat seeing these customs and some of the original artwork.

WOW! That was fun project with awesome results!
Very interesting choices you both made for a base figures.
In my opinion, E-Man made better looking figure because of more realistic rhino figure, but the use of Ram Man (which is so unique figure) is a bit to obvious. He is still to recognizable part in that custom, but details of the Ram Man looks good in combination with rhino.

On the other hand Tyke used some funny looking rhino toy but his custom fits perfectly next to Bionatops. So I guess this better fits vintage style because of the rhino part. So this might be closer to the look that we would get if the toy was made back then.

So I can't decide which one I like better and I would be very pleased if mine Custar custom would be like any of these two!
Congratulations guys!

WOW! That was fun project with awesome results!
Very interesting choices you both made for a base figures.
In my opinion, E-Man made better looking figure because of more realistic rhino figure, but the use of Ram Man (which is so unique figure) is a bit to obvious. He is still to recognizable part in that custom, but details of the Ram Man looks good in combination with rhino.

On the other hand Tyke used some funny looking rhino toy but his custom fits perfectly next to Bionatops. So I guess this better fits vintage style because of the rhino part. So this might be closer to the look that we would get if the toy was made back then.

So I can't decide which one I like better and I would be very pleased if mine Custar custom would be like any of these two!
Congratulations guys!

Thanks for sharing your input Mantisaur! In the spirit of Eman and I NOT making this a competition, let's just say you like them both equally, eh?

Thanks for all the nice words, guys! Eman and I are now attempting to create yet another custom (same character at the same time)....here's a hint: an additional "Fighting Foe Man" and the idea belongs to Scar1321.....

Thanks! Real life has been kinda demanding the past couple of months, but now I have some free time and I'm gonna show some more stuff soon!

Originally Posted by Tyke

more, and let me say that E-Man is a blast to bounce ideas off of....and I love his more realistic/200x approach to the character (how I see it!)

Thanks man! And vice versa! The process has been fun! Looking forward to the next simultanious project.

Originally Posted by motumulder

Yes, yessssss. I've heard about the project from E-man when it was a wip and it was a bit of a wait but man.... those look great. (...) Love seeing how the 2 of you took a character and gave it your own style and choice of parts, super jobs!

Thanks man! The wait HAS been long indeed. As stated, real life got in the way somewhat. Making the same figure at the same time each with a different approach has been fun indeed. As no-one else had ever attempted the character, there were no 'examples' to follow.

Originally Posted by Mantisaur82

WOW! That was fun project with awesome results! (...)
In my opinion, E-Man made better looking figure because of more realistic rhino figure, but the use of Ram Man (which is so unique figure) is a bit to obvious. He is still to recognizable part in that custom, but details of the Ram Man looks good in combination with rhino.

On the other hand Tyke used some funny looking rhino toy but his custom fits perfectly next to Bionatops. So I guess this better fits vintage style because of the rhino part. So this might be closer to the look that we would get if the toy was made back then.

Like Tyke said, it was never a contest. That said, I have to agree on your comments about Ram-Man being too recognizable in my custom. I have been figuring for a couple of days why I don't really love my own custom. I think it's okay, but Tyke's version is by far the most fun and 'a real unique character' of the two in my opinion. Wereas mine is Ram-Man in a Halloween outfit

Originally Posted by Charlie Brown

hope the next one will be hercule, the pirate dwarf!

Dang! Just used my last Ram-Man on this custom! Heheheh... good idea though.. Maybe that could be a 'third' project... What do you think Tyke?